"After" is the ninth episode and mid-season premiere of the fourth season of the post-apocalyptic horror television series The Walking Dead, which aired on AMC on February 9, 2014. The episode was written by Robert Kirkman and directed by Greg Nicotero.
The plot for this episode is very similar to "Volume 9", "Issue #49" and "Issue #50" of the comic book series.
Following the attack on the prison, Rick (Andrew Lincoln) and Carl (Chandler Riggs) find themselves on the road looking for shelter. They have to come to terms with their new environment and ask themselves if survival alone is enough. However, after his vicious fight with The Governor (David Morrissey), Rick also deals with old wounds as he is in desperate need to rest and heal. Concurrently, Michonne (Danai Gurira) finds herself once again alone and haunted by memories of the past as she tries to come to grips with how she wants to spend her life.
The episode was watched by 15.76 million viewers, a significant rise in ratings from the previous episode two months prior. However, commentators had varied reactions to it, with many noting positively to the character development, but commenting negatively on the episode's pace.
Plot
Following The Governor's deadly assault on the prison, the survivors are forced to scatter and try to regroup. Michonne reconnoiters the prison for survivors. She discovers the reanimated head of her friend, Hershel, and stabs it to put him out of his torment. She discovers a trail of footprints leading away from the prison. To protect herself, she slices off the arms and jaws of two walkers, leading them pet-like to help mask her presence from other walkers, however this appears to draw more walkers toward her. While taking shelter in a car overnight, she dreams of her young son, her boyfriend Mike (Aldis Hodge), and his friend Terry (Brandon Fobbs) before the apocalypse, but the dream turns into a nightmare when Mike and Terry appear like her walker 'pets'. She continues onward, but on observing a walker that looks similar to herself, suddenly comes to the realization that her mindless walking is for naught; she slaughters the walkers that surround her and her pets, and vows to Mike that she now has a purpose in life. She sets off to follow the trail of footprints.
Meanwhile, Carl and Rick, whose footprints Michonne is following, work their way from the prison, Rick slowing them down due to injuries he got from the attack. They stop at a diner to find food; a lone walker is barricaded behind furniture and Rick wants to kill it using an axe but is too weak, forcing Carl to kill it with his gun. Later, Carl helps his father into an abandoned house, and Rick falls unconscious. Carl shouts at him to try and revive him, attracting nearby walkers. Carl is able to dispatch them, and when he returns, yells at a still unconscious Rick, blaming him for abandoning his leadership role, hurting himself, his mother Lori, his newborn sibling Judith, and the others of his group at the prison. Later, Carl goes to search for supplies in a nearby house. He nearly is bitten by a walker trapped behind one door, but is able to escape when the walker pulls off his boot. He recovers additional food and supplies, and returns to the house where Rick is. He sees Rick crawling toward him and moaning, and fearing his father has become a walker, turns his gun on him. Rick calls out Carl's name, proving he is still alive. Rick sees what Carl has done to protect and sustain them, and apologizes for his behavior, and believes Carl is now a man.
Michonne eventually catches up to the pair and after observing through a window that they are alive and well, begins to cry tears of joy. As Rick and Carl bond over a meal, there is a knock at the door. Rick goes to look through the peephole, and on seeing Michonne, laughs and tells Carl, "It's for you."
Production
"After" was written by comic book creator and executive producer Robert Kirkman and directed by special effects makeup artist and executive producer Greg Nicotero.
This episode focuses entirely on the characters of Rick (Andrew Lincoln), Carl (Chandler Riggs) and Michonne (Danai Gurira). Scott Wilson (Hershel Greene) and David Morrissey (The Governor) have brief final appearances as corpses. "After" is the final episode to feature Morrissey's name in the opening credits; Wilson's name is featured in the season finale, "A". Norman Reedus (Daryl), Steven Yeun (Glenn), Lauren Cohan (Maggie) and Melissa McBride (Carol) are all credited, but do not appear. Emily Kinney (Beth), Chad L. Coleman (Tyreese), Sonequa Martin-Green (Sasha) and Lawrence Gilliard Jr. (Bob) are also absent, but are credited as "also starring".